The primary group that was instrumental in strengthening and saving American claims to Oregon were

American missionaries to the Indians

Most Americans who migrated to the Oregon Country were attracted by the

rich soil of the Willamette River Valley

The nomination of James K. Polk as the Democrats' 1844 presidential candidate was secured by

expansionists

he area in dispute between the U.S. and Great Britain in 1845 lay between

the Columbia River, the 49th parallel, and the Pacific Ocean

In the 1840s, the view that God had ordained the growth of an American nation stretching across North America was called

Manifest Destiny

The election of 1844 was notable because

it brought the slavery issue into politics

The group most supportive of gaining control of all the Oregon Country was the

northern Democrats

In the Oregon treaty with Britain in 1846, the northern boundary of the U.S. was established to the Pacific Ocean along the line of

49 degrees

One reason that the British government decided to compromise on the Oregon Country border was

the fear of war with the United States

In his quest for California, President Polk

first advocated buying the area from Mexico

In 1846 the U.S. went to war with Mexico for all of the following reasons except

the impulse to satisfy those asking for "spot" resolutions

President Polk's claim that "American blood [had been shed] on the American soil" referred to news of an armed clash between Mexican and American troops near

the rio grande

During the Mexican War, the Polk administration was called upon several times to respond to "spot" resolutions indicating where American blood had been shed to provoke the war. The resolutions were frequently introduced by

Abraham Lincoln

One goal of Mexico in its 1846-1848 war with the U.S. was to

free black slaves

When the war with Mexico began, President Polk

hoped to fight a limited war, ending with the conquest of California

Match each American officer below with his theater of command in the Mexican War.

Zachary Taylor 2. California

The terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ending the Mexican War included

U.S. payment of $15 million for cession of northern Mexico

Those people most opposed to President Polk's expansionist program were the

antislavery forces

The Wilmot Proviso

symbolized the burning issue of slavery in the territories

he Wilmot Proviso, introduced into Congress during the Mexican War, declared that

Slaves would be banned from all

The largest single addition to American territory was

The Mexican Cession

The first Old World Europeans to come to California were

Spanish

he Spanish Franciscan missionaries treated the native inhabitants of California